My oldies are just that, old. I don't have many tips except that not every lump is the end of the world, not every trip means they'll never walk again, and not every time they ignore you means they're deaf. Patience and taking things in stride seem most important. I am prone to panic but it helps no one with an oldie. They're going to die, it's a fact and you can't stop it, but you can make their time the most comfortable and pleasurable time they've ever had.

Shamoo is fifteen, on rimadyl, has arthritis in every joint of her body, gets confused, and is probably slightly blind and deaf but she's still my crazy trooper no matter what. It's going to be too hard to lose her.

Arnold acts like a senior but he's only eight for one more week so we'll wait on his official senior label.

Sawyer is ten and acts like he's 4 most days. He still goes hiking up mountains with me, though he's a bit more stiff the next day. Essiac tea twice a day makes the most improvement and he's also on fish oil and a daily dose of glucosamine. The one noticeable adjustment I've made recently is I raised his food bowl up. He seems more comfortable eating now.

He has a few bumps here and there, his eyes aren't 100% clear and I'm starting to wonder about how sharp his hearing is these days.

I don't have any idea how old Magpie actually is. Our vet estimated her at 10 a while ago, and in the last few months it has been really evident. She's on pain medication for her hips and she doesn't burst into craziness like she used to. Maybe once in a while with the dogs. She likes to sleep and lay in the sun.

She's had moments of obvious senility, but not for very long. Mostly I just stare at her and frown. She's the best dog. Jack, on the other hand, has to be at least 9 or 10 and while he greyed out dramatically he's still in good shape, physically and mentally. Jonas will only be 8 this year and he's a little, and you'd think he was 2 at best if you saw him.

So far Summer is far from old acting at 9. In fact I think the last couple years she's gotten wilder and wilder. She does sleep more but when we go, she goes with all her heart. But hiking and agility she's not slowing down. I really hope she doesn't slow down for a long while.

We did do a baseline bloodwork on her for her wellness exam. And she has white eyelashes. Really if it weren't for a few grey hairs I would not ever think of her as a senior. No lumps or bumps yet, no hearing or eyesight issues.

I do think blood work is good to do on the older dogs just to check up everything. And my goal with Summer is to keep her active and having fun as long as possible.

The nice thing about Happy is that her geriatric-ness is all "normal" to me. I'm sad that she's deaf but not super sad. When she trips on a crack in the road or slips on the stairs or can't see the treat in front of her face... it's just "Happy being Happy." When these things start happening to the other 2... oh Lord it'll be sad.

I ran bloodwork on her just to see how things were working. I try to keep her active and at a healthy weight. I think there are just some things where you just know they "aren't right" vs being normal aging.

Zander turned 8 this year, and he's gotten a bit grumpier through the last few years but otherwise you wouldn't ever know his age. Most people put him at 4ish. Since he has no color on his face, you couldn't see any gray if there were any. He's a little stiff getting up and down on some days, but it could be passed off as being picky on how he wants to lay down. He keeps weight well. His hearing and eyesight are still perfect. His teeth are a little brittle, had a fracture a few months ago. Little dull, but not obvious. Interestingly enough his anxiety has calmed down tons, he's more level and sane now then he's ever been. Not every stranger is going to possibly kill him, just one out of maybe 30 or so.

The problem with an aging dog is that every little thing can be passed off as another. You just keep your eyes open, make them happy and comfortable and deal with things as they come.

And take that daily denial supplement. It really does help keep your outlook more positive and make you enjoy the time while you have it.

I'm LOVING middle-aged Lucy. At 8? 9? however old she is, she is a complete joy. This is the dog I worked so hard to get over the past 5 years, and through a combination of training, tons of exercise, and natural aging/slowing down, she is a wonderful, wonderful house dog.

I have a dog who I can get away with just walking some days, we no longer have to go to the dog park for hours every day. She will chase other dogs at the park, but selectively and for short sprints, not for laps and laps and laps. Yet when it's time to go for agility, she still has plenty of energy to dart around the course.

I've dropped her jump height 4", and we've gotten a couple massages over the past year to help her older athlete body, but otherwise this past year has been my favorite Lucy year yet.

(don't get me wrong, I still sob when I find new grey hairs...but I take that denial pill too!)

Bear is on rimadyl, tramadol and dasuquin for his hips. His walks are pretty much limited to jaunts around the neighborhood, usually only a few blocks. I sometimes need to help him on stairs, but those times are pretty rare. Mainly I make sure he doesn't have to deal with roughhousing from the other dogs if he doesn't want to.

He's also not allowed to play in the kitchen (only slick floor in the house) although really, no dogs are supposed to be running/playing in there so that's not really an age-specific thing.

He does get bloodwork every 3-6 months as well, mostly because of the meds he's on.

he still eats both meals with out hesitating every day. they day he snubs his nose at food, ill know something is seriously wrong. he has never ever snubbed a meal. ever lol.

this is Maddie, totally!

Maddie is 11 now... and other than all of the white on her face lol, she doesn't look OR act her age She's still got a ton of energy. Actually, she's had a burst of it lately and has been reverting to some of her puppy naughtiness But her joints are good and the vet says she's in great shape, no signs at all of arthritis yet. She's still game for hikes or swimming, and she still needs that daily walk or intense game of fetch or training to keep her chill for the night. She's a demanding little brat if I skip it.

I am super aware of ever wart, lump and bump, but not panicky about it. Just observant. What I am panicky about, at times, is her eye. Since her accident and she's 100% blind in the one eye, I am always worried about the other one getting cloudy or her losing vision in it. But I'm not as bad as I was Thanks too Tara the blind and deaf cocker I fostered a couple years back.

I also do bloodwork twice a year, with a full senior panel, but we've been doing that because of the meds she's on.
What has been a harder adjustment for us is her hearing loss (she's almost totally deaf now), it felt somewhat sudden to me, but I think that's because I missed a lot of the early signs because she's a big faker. When the vet confirment that she is almost 100% deaf I felt my stomach hit the floor...
The adjustment was hard because here's a dog who's had a reliable recall, and was rarely ever on a leash in safe places, and now she has to be leashed 100% of the time, she's even taken a fancy to being a door darter and taking off the brat. So we had to work on that, and reinforce the hand signal for "wait" But other than that, we're fine. I always did hand signals with the command so there's no change there. Other than the initail getting her attention... when I tap her on the shoulder she'll look at me. But sometimes she will deliberately look away from me when she doesn't want to do something... LOL...I'm trying to teach her to look at me when I flick the lights, like I did with Izzy... but training for that has been slow going so far. If I stomp on the ground she'll look up, if she's not sleeping.

Speaking when she sleeps, she sleeps deep and hard. Like, dead ferret sleep (when she's not snoring). And thank goodness the ferrets taught me about that, to avoid the heart attacks on my end! My mom was not so lucky

Just the other day when we were cuddling I said "I had to wait 11 years for you to be this cuddly! It was totally worth the wait!" I really really do love it!!!!